Car door



Jan. 12 1926. 1,569,799

D. E. CONRAD CAR DOOR Filed June 11, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 12 1926. 1,569,799

' D. E. CQNRAD CAR DOOR Filed June 11, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JZ i .2213.

Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

UNITED" S ES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVE) E. CONRAD, OI ELDON, IOWA, ABSIGNOB OI ONE-HALF OI" I LDON, IOWA CAR DOOR.

Application fled June 11, 1925. Serial llo. 30,40.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID E. CONRAD, a citizen of the United States, residin at 'Eldon, inthe county of Wapello and tate of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Doors, of which the follow' is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to doors suchas are used on railroad cars, and particularly to those doors which are supported upon rollers. v

In stock cars, grain cars and cars-for carrying freight, the doors ordinarily hang on rollers and are held closed by hasps.- These hasps are easily broken by sudden starts and stops of the train and the rollers very liable to...wear' out and then the door-cannot be moved without using a pry for shifting the door. This damagesthe side of the car and the door casings. If a very heavy hasp is I used, the piece to which the hasp is attached is often broken out of the door. In many cases where perishable freight is being shipped, the car doors must be'cleated open. N o cleat in this positionwill stand the movement of heavy trains, the backing and sudden stopping, and there is no way to seal the car and under these circumstances there is considerable loss in the contents of, the cars In many cars the doors are left entirel open and the doors are then liable to run hac kwardand forward and not only the doorsar'e damaged but accidents often happen fromthe rolling car door.

The general object of this invention is to overcome this difficulty and provide a car door which is mounted. upon rollers but which under normal circumstances and when the car is traveling is supported out of engagement with the rollers and is held from any movement longitudinally of the'car.

"A further object is to provide a car door -;construction which obviates the necessity of using haspsor otherlocking devices of like character i A still further object is to provide aconstruction of this character wherein the door is. locked. both at top and; bottom and in which the door may be locked either fully closed or partially closed to any extent required. I e. Another object is to provide a car with means whereb when the door is closed the door shall be orced toward the door frame,

thus holding the door closed tightly and preventing rain and moves by means of its rollers upon the track, the upper portion of the door will-Le automatically forced away from the door frame, thus permitting the ready shifting of the door on its track door. 7 Still another object is to provide a construction of this character in which the door carries the rollers and a track is provided which is movable vertically to engage the rollers and support the door on the rollers whereby the door may be shifted longitudinally of the car, and in which the track is manually lowerable to remove the track from its engagement with the rollers and thus take the weight oil the rollers and permit the door to be locked.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

Myinvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car constructed in accordance with my invention showing my improved doors appliedth'ereto Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 3showing the door'closed;

Figure 3 is a like view to Figure 2 but raised Figure 4 is a front elevation of a portion of the door and its frame showing the means for raising the rail;

being understood that while I have illus-. trated double doors that a single door might be used in place of the double'doors. Each of these doors 10 is formed on its upper margin and upon its. outside face with an outwardly projecting flange 11 whichmay be made of metal or any other suitable mato open or close the To VAN v. mnnwm,

snow or dust from entering the carbut in which, when the door is raised showing the door after the rail. has been IS a perspective 1 view of the aving the door terial and which is formed with an outwardl and upwardly inclined toothed face 12.

his flange may be, as before remarked,

preferably of metal and may be attached to the door in any suitable manner.

Disposed over the top of the door is the hood 13 which extends longitudinally of the car above the opening B and has a length equal to the full movement of the two doors 10. This hood 13 extends downward in front of the flange 11 and at its-lower end is formed with the flange 14 triangular in cross section like the flange 11, this flange 14 being formed with upwardly facin downwardly inclined teeth 15. These teet 15 and the teeth 12 are adapted to mesh with each other, and preferably the teeth 15 extend alon the whole face of the flange 14 and prefera ly the teeth 12 may extend along the entire face of the flange 11, it being understood, however, that while it is preferable to have these intere agin teeth, yet I do not wish to be limite to t is for reasons which will hereafter appear.

The lower margin of each door 10 is pro vided with a 'pluralit of rollers 16, two being shown for each oor 10, each roller being held in place by a suitable bearing stud 17 and by a bracket 18 held in place by a bolt 19 or eguivalent mechanism. The lower margin 0 each door carries the longitudinally extending strip 20 which extends out beyond the face of the door in spaced relation to the roller 16, and just below this strip there is disposed the downwardly extending flange 21 which is triangular in cross section and is formed on its under face with the downwardly and inwardly extendin gear teeth 22.

ounted below the door opening B are a plurality of brackets 23, which brackets are recessed on their inner faces, as at 24, and support in this recessed portion the rack 25 which is triangular in cross section and has the downwardly and inwardly extending teeth 26 with which the teeth 22 are adapted to mesh when the door is lowered. Extending downward from each bracket are the two screws, stud bolts or like members 27 and 27, and mounted upon these stud bolts is the rail 28, the upper margin of which is inwardly turned, as at 29, and disposed between the outwardly projecting portion of the strip 20 and the rollers 16. The rail 28 is formed with longitudinal, relatively wide slots30 through which the lower stud bolts 27' extend, these stud bolts being less in diameter than the width of the slot 30. Above the slot 30 the rail is formed with a plurality of cam-shaped slots 31,

these slots extendin longitudinally, then upward and longitu inally, and then'longitudinally arallel to the top of the rail, and through t ese slots the stud bolts 27 extend. Preferably the stud bolts 27 and 27 carry the bushings 32 upon which the walls of the slots operate constituting rollers. The rail is held in place by an outer, longitudinally extending plate 33, this plate being carried by the stud bolts 27 and 27' and extending the entire length of the rail 28 and holding this roller in place from any lateral movement. The rail 28 is provided at one end with a lug 34 and a lever 35 is pivoted upon the side of the car and is pivotally connected to this lug by means of the link 36. The lever is designed to be locked in any desired position.

With this construction it is obvious that when the rail 28 is lowered, the door will move downward until the toothed faces 22 and 26 of the members 21 and 25 respectively will engage. Then the door will be locked from longitudinal movement. The same thing will be true with regard to the toothed faces 12 and 15 of the flanges 11 and 14 so that when the door is lowered the upper margin of the door and the lower margin of the door will both be lockingly engaged with the housing 13 at the top and with the brackets 23 by means of the rack 25 at the bottom. \Vhile I preferably have these members 11, 14, 21 and 25 formed with toothed faces like gear teeth, I do not wish to be limited to this as these faces might simply be roughened and even if the faces are entirely smooth there will be considerable friction that will tend to prevent any easy opening movement of the door.

It will be obvious that when the door is lowered by the downward movement of the track 28, the inclined faces of the members 11 and 21 will tend to move downward on the inclined faces of the members 14 and 23. Thus the door through its weight will be forced tightly against the face of the door frame. It is desirable that when the door is lifted and is in position to operate upon the track 28 that the door should be free from engagement with the face of the door frame. To this end I mount upon the upper mar in of the door frame ust beneath the ousing 23 the longitudinally extending member 37, and when th door is raised the upper margin of this door will engage against the face of this member 37 and the upper margin will be thrown outward,'as illustrated'in Figure 3, the lower portion of the door rocking upon the pivot formed by the rollers 16 engaging with the flange 29 of the roller 28. Thus the greater portion of the door will be lifted entirely away from and free from contact with the face of the 'door and the door will be free to be lifted longitudinally.

It will be seen that with this construction the rollers are always in good condition inasmuch as there is but very little wear upon them and they do not support the door at all times and under traveling cond-itions and carry the door only when the door is in position to be moved. Furthermore the door, when the track is lowered by its own weight, is forced inward against the face of the car or door frame and thenthe door is held tightly closed. At the same time the door cannot be shifted longitudinally because of its locking enga ement at its top and bottom with the toothed members 14 and 25. There is no necessity of lockingthe door except in so far as looking the handle is concerned, and it is obvious that the door may be held either full; closed,

partially open or fully open just as desired, and that furthermore the door will be held not merely at one or two points but along its whole upper and lower edges against longitudinahmovement due to shocks and jars incident to travel. It will be seen that there is no wear either on the rail or on the rollers so that when the rail is lifted and the rollers engaged therewith, the rails will have a perfectly smooth track to travel on and as a consequence the doors may be readily opened. The inside of the door may be also formed at its opposite ends with a relatively shallow, inwardly projecting flange or rib 38 and the face of the door frame may be formed with a corresponding groove 39, and thus when the door is forced inward or into the position shown in Figure 2, this rib 38 will fit within the groove 39, making a water-tight joint between the inner face of the door and the door frame, Of course, this will only be effective whenthe door is fully closed. and in acertain definite position. The housing 13 covers the door ,and shelters the to of the door' and prevents the entrance of water, .snow or the accumulation of ice between the upper margin of the door and the door casing and this housing will give or yield so'as to com ensate for slightdifferences in the height 0 doors. If desired, the members 11, 14, 21 and. 25 can have smooth surfaces instead of teeth and still be eliective, as in this case the weight of the door will create so much fric tion between these faces of the two members- 21 and 25 or 11 and 14 that it will be practically impossible to shift the door without the exercise of very great pressure without the door being raised up. I

It is to bealso noted that each roller 16 is formed with a flange 16 and that the junction of the flange 29 with the track 28 is rounded or beveled and it will thus be seen that when the track is raised the bev- 'eled corner of the track will ride upon the beveled edge of the flange 16 and this will tend to draw the lower portion of the door away from actual contact with the'side of the car and allow the door to move with ease. I 4

The front platea'nd the rail, it will be seen, are both provided with openings which are adapted to register with each other when the rail has been shifted to allow thedoor to fall and when these openings are in register with each other and the door, therefore, held from any longitudinal movement, the rail may be locked from longitudinal movement or a sealing device pl ac'cd through these coincident openings 40 and ll. I

While I have illustrated certain details of construction and arrangement of parts which Ibelieve ,to be particularly effective for the purpose intended, I do not wish to be limited to these details nor to the exact arrangement as it'is obvious that these may be changed in many ways without departing from the spirit of the invention as de fined in the appended claims. It is obvious that this principle of supporting the doors and locking the doors in their closed or partially closed position may be used on freight cars, automobile cars, grain cars, and in many 0th81S1tllltl0I1S where it is desir able to provide a sliding door and provide simple means whereby the door may be locked. Thus, for instance, in barns wherethe door opening is closed by sliding doors running upon rollers it is often the case that the weight of the door causes the track and the hangers to bedeformed and this causes the door to run badly and with difliculty. Under these circumstances an attempt to open or close the door very often shoves the rollers ofi the track entirely. This cannot occur with my door inasmuch as the lower edge of the door is alwaysheld from any too great outward movement by the member 25 and the upper margin of the door is held from too great outward movement by the overhang of the housing and of the toothed member 14. At the same. time by removing the housing 13, the door may be readily withdrawn from its engagement i with the structure having the door opening.

the rail .28 and shifting the rail longitudinall The evice is simfple to install, is composed of relatively ew parts and these of they may be cheaply below the lower edge'of the door and on which the door rests and is supported when the track is lowered.

2; In a door structure, a wall having an track, a door support disposed directly below the lower edge of the door and on which the door rests and is supported when the track is lowered, and means carried upon the wall above said opening operatively engaging the door when the door is lowered and thus limiting the outward movement of the upper margin of the door.

3." In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor, rollers on the door, a track extending parallel to the wall and mounted upon the wall for vertical movement into or out of engagement with the rollers, manually operable means for shifting the track, a door support disposed directly below the lower edge of the door and 'upon which the door rests when the track is lowered, said door support being beveled downward and inwardt-o thereby cause the door to shift through gravity toward the wall.

4. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor mounted upon the opening for vertical movement, rollers on the door, a track mounted upon the wall for vertical movement into or out of engagement with the rollers and adapted, when raised, to engage said rollers and lift the door and, when lowered, to lower the door and then disengage from said rollers, manually operable means for shifting said track, and means having a length substantially equal to the length of movement of the door for supporting the door when the track is lowered, said supporting means when the door is lowered acting to lock the door from longitudinal movement in any position of the door.

5. In a door structure, a wallhaving an opening, a door therefor, rollers on the door, a track mounted upon the wall for vertical movement into or out of engagement with the roller, means permitting limited outward movement of the upper margin of the door but limiting the downward movement of the door, means supporting the door when it is lowered, manually operable means for shifting the track, and means causing the outward movement of the top of the door when the door is raised. a

6. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor, rollers carried by the 'door, a track operatively supported upon the wall 'below said rollers for vertical movement into or out of e agement with the rollers, manually operab e means for shifting said track, a supporting member disposed below and exteriorly to the upper margin of the door, a supporting member disposed below the lower edge of the door, the door having vertical movement as the track is lowered or raised into or out of engagement with said supporting members, said supporting members being so constructed as to cause the door to move inward when the door is lowered onto the supporting members.

'7. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor, rollers carried by the door, a track operatively supported upon the wall below said rollers for vertical movement into or out of engagement with the rollers, manually operable-means for shifting said track, a supporting member disposed below and exteriorly to the upper margin of the door, a supporting member disposed below the lower edge of the door, the door having vertical movement as the track is lowered or raised into or out of engagement with said supporting members, said supporting members being so, constructed as to cause the door to move inward when the door is lowered onto the supporting members, and means causing the outward movement of the top of the door as the door is lifted by the track from said supporting members.

8. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a sliding door therefor, means supporting the door for sliding movement longitudinally of the wall, said means permitting the door to move vertically, the upper margin of the door being formed with a longitudinally extending outwardly projecting member having an inwardly and downwardly inclined surface, the lower edge of the door being formed with a longitudinally extending member having a downwardly and inwardly inclined surface, and upper and lower longitudinally extending members carried by the wall, said members each having downwardly and inwardly inclined surfaces with which the surfaces of said first named members on the door are adapted to engage when the. door is lowered.

9. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor mounted upon the wall for longitudinal movement and limited vertical movement, manually operable means for raising or-lowering the door, and means locking the door from longitudinal movement when the .door is lowered, said means including longitudinally I extending members carried on the door, and confronting longitudinally extending members supported upon the Wall, the confronting faces of said wall and door members being downwardly and inwardly inclined.

10. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor mounted upon the wall for longitudinal movement and limited vertical movement, manually operable means for raising 'or lowering the door,

means locking the door from longitudinal movement when the door is lowered, said means including members carried on the door, and confronting members sup ported upon the wall,said confronting faces of the door and wall members having n,

terengaging corrugations.

11. In a door structure; a wall having an opening, a door therefor mounted u on the wall for longitudinal movement an limited vertical movement, manually operable means for raising or lowering the door, means locking the door from longitudinal movement when thedoor is lowered, said means including members carried on the door, and confronting members supported upon the wall, said confronting faces of the door and wall members being formed with downwardly and inwardly inclined toothed faces.

12. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor, means supporting the door upon the wall for longitudinal movement and for limited vertical movement, rollers carried by the door and a longitudinally movable track mounted upon the wall, manually operable means 'for shifting the track longitudinally, a longitudinally extending member mounted upon the upper margin of the door and having a downwardly and inwardly extending toothed face, a housing mounted upon the wall above the door opening and extending outward.

beyond said member and at its lower end a carrying a longitudinally extending member having a downwardly and inwardly beveled face which the first named member confronts, a member carried upon the lower edge of the door and having a downwardly and inwardly inclined face, a longitudinally extending member operatively supported upon the wall below the door opening and having a downwardly and inwardly inclined face confronting the face of the last named member, and means causing the upward movement of the track into contact with the rollers upon the longitudinal movement of the track in one direction and the lowering of the track out of contact with the rollers upon a movement of the track in the other direction into or out of engagement with said rollers.

13. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor, means supporting the door upon the wall for longitudinal movement and for limited vertical movement, rollers carried by the door, a longitudinally movable track mounted upon the wall, manually operable means for shifting the track longitudinally, a longitudinally extending member mounted upon the upper margin of the door and having a downwardly and inwardly extending toothed the door opening and extending outward beyond said member and at its lower'end,

carrying a longitudinally extending member having a downwardly and inwardly toothed face which the first named member confronts, a member carried upon the lower edge of the door and having a downwardly and inwardly inclined face, a longitudinally extending member operatively supported upon the wall below the door opening and having a downwardly and inwardly inclined face confronting the face of the last named member, means causing the upward move ment of the track into contact with the roll are upon the longitudinal movement of the track in one direction and the lowering of the track out of contact with the rollers upon a movement of the track in the other direction.

14. In a door structure, a wall having an 1 opening, a door therefor, rollers mounted upon the lower margin of the door, brackets mounted below the door opening, means carried by the brackets and mounted directly below the door for supporting said door when the door is lowered, a track mounted upon the brackets and beneath the rollers, and manually operable means for causing the lifting of the track into engagement with the rollers and the successive lifting of the door from its support or causing the descent of the track and the lowering of the door onto said an port.

15. In a d opening, a door therefor, rollers mounted upon the lower margin of the door, brackets mounted below the door opening, means for supporting said door when the door is lowered, a track mounted upon the brackets and beneath the rollers, the track being mounted for longitudinal movement and having cam slots and the brackets being provided with pins engaging said cam slots and whereby, as the track is moved longitudinally in one direction, the track will rise into engagement with the rollers and lift the door from its support and in the other direction the track will be lowered and permit the lowering of the door onto said support.

16. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor, rollers on the lower margin of the door, brackets disposed below the lower margin of the door, said brackets supporting a longitudinally extending member having a downwardly and inwardly inclined face and the lower margin of the door being formed with a lower down wardly and inwardly inclined face confronting the face of said member, means operatively engaging the upper margin of the door and preventing outward movement of the upper margin of the door, a track disposed against said brackets and having 1ongitudinally extending slots, pins passing through the slots into the brackets, certain of the slots having inclined portions, manuoor structure, a wall having an ally operable means for shifting the track longitudinally to thereby cause the inclined portions of the slots to ride upon said pins and cause the lifting of the track into engagement with the rollers and the successive lifting of the door from said support or the lowering of the door onto said supportand the disengagement of the track from the rollers.

17. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor, rollers on the lower mar in of the door, brackets disposed below the door opening and having outwardly projecting pins, a track having longitudinally extending slots through which said pins pass, certain of the slots having upwardly inclined cam )Ul'lZlOIlS. manually operable means for shifting said track longitudinally, the upper margin of the track being inwardly bent and being disposed beneath the rollers on the door, and means preventing the outward movement of the door at its upper margin but permitting the vertical movement of the door.

18. In a door structure, a wall having an opening, a door therefor, rollers on the lower margin of the door, brackets disposed below the door opening and having outwardly projecting pins, a track having longitudinally extending slots through which said pins pass, certain of the slots having upwardly inclined cam portions, manually operable means for shifting said track longitudinally, the upper margin of the track bein inwardly bent and being disposed beneat the rollers on the door, a door-supported member carried upon said tracks, means preventing the outward movement of the door at its upper margin but ermitting the vertical movement of the oor including a housing extendingfrom the wall over the upper margin of the door and having a longitudinally extending member, and a longitudinally extending member mounted upon the upper margin of the door and confronting the first named member.

19. A door structure, a wall having a door opening, certain margins of the wall being formed with grooves, a door slidingly supported upon the wall, certain margins of the door being provided with outwardly extending ribs, a vertically movable track mounted upon the wall, rollers carried bv the door, the track being engageable wit the rollers when the door is lifted, and means supporting the door when the track is lowered, said means causing the door to move inward and bring the ribs of the door into engagement with the grooves in the wall.

In testimony whereof I hereunto attix my signature.

DAVID E. CONRAD. 

